November 15, 2017

Roy Moore and the "moral" road to suicide

My esteemed colleague brought out many of what I feel are the salient points regarding the fiasco in Alabama.

Still, I'd like to drill down a little deeper.

What Moore is accused of doing is violating a moral rather than a criminal code. We cannot with any certainty determine his innocence or guilt, all we can do is express our opinion on what we feel is likely and what should be done about it.

Let us therefore assume the worst and Moore is every bit the creep he is alleged to be.

Is this a disqualifying condition for public office?

I'm not being cute here. For decades Democrats swore that personal failings were not disqualifying. They stood by Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and the Klansman Robert Byrd because they needed their political power. The ends justified the means.

It is worth noting that there is currently a US Senator on trial for bribery and corruption. It is also credibly alleged that he frequented underage hookers. Most people would agree that these are far worse crimes than anything Moore has been accused of.

I am of course referring to Bob Menendez and the Democrats have formed a unified front around him. They will keep him in that seat even if he goes to prison.

On the one hand, I have a natural disgust at seeing a creep like Moore (whom I never cared for, I consider him a grand-standing blowhard) getting into the Senate.

At the same time, I'm not the one making the rules of the game. The Democrats have decreed that no matter what crimes their peoplecommit, they will stand by them because the ends justify the means.

History is replete with examples of how defenders of the Constitutional order and traditional morality were outfoxed and outflanked by far more ruthless adversaries.

What the GOP detractors of Moore are essentially saying is that because he is tainted, the Democrats must be rewarded with an extra Senate seat, but the taint of a sitting Democrat senator is something we all just have to live with.

It is no coincidence that the loudest critics of Moore are Quisling Never Trumpers - the same virtuous, moral people who insisted that Hillary Clinton was the "conservative" choice. They're electoral masochists, forever trying to find ways to forfeit political power. Since the Dems are weak in the South, they're now working over time to help them.

A cynic might say I'm just as bad, but again - I didn't make the rules. Indeed, I don't like these rules. I wish the Dems had a moral compass and that they could muster the outrage to demand Menendez immediately resign.

Of course if he did, the outgoing GOP governor of New Jersey would appoint a GOP replacement, and that simply cannot be allowed to happen.

Because the ends justify the means.

That's what animates the Dems these days. That's all they care about. They will throw Bill Clinton under the bus only because it is convenient to do so.

I would much rather have a system where both parties agree that public morality should be maintained and are willing to sacrifice political power to sustain it.

But the Democrats aren't to that point. Until they are, logic demands the GOP play by the same rules or forfeit the game entirely.